Most people think awakening is about becoming something new. It’s not. 

It’s about remembering — and then learning how to live from that place without escaping the human experience.

That might sound familiar. You might even feel like you already understand this. And like me, you may not realise what you don’t yet know.

I didn’t realise for a long time that the spiritual part is a bridge, not the end destination. There is more — and it isn’t quite what I expected.

Here’s what the journey actually looks like.

1. Asleep: Living in Duality (3D)

This is where most of humanity starts.

We are asleep not because we are stupid or broken, but because we’ve been trained into duality. We’re surrounded by it from birth, which only strengthens the belief that this is just the way things are — the right way to live, the only way to make sense of the world.

Me vs you
Right vs wrong
Light vs dark
Success vs failure

At this level, identity is built from roles, stories, trauma, beliefs and conditioning. Life can feel heavy. Fear drives many decisions, even when it wears a “nice” mask.

There can still be love here — but it’s often conditional, protective, or mixed with fear.

This is 3D consciousness, separation feels real.

2. Awareness: The Cracking Open (4D)

Something shifts.

A moment. A loss. A burnout. A question you can’t unsee. It might be subtle — or it might feel like a full-blown mental breakdown.

You start to notice:

Your thoughts aren’t you
Your reactions aren’t truth
The world doesn’t quite work the way you were told

You sense that there is more, but you can’t yet put your finger on it. You might experience out-of-body sensations.

This is awareness — the first awakening.

This is often where people begin to discover spirituality. People start to feel drawn to things like meditation, energy, healing, angels, guides, practices, and spiritual texts. Their search history is starting to look quite different from before, lol. 

This stage is powerful… and tricky. Many rabbit holes. Lots of people with different opinions that you try to get your head around.

But awareness can still sit mainly in the mind — as concepts rather than lived truth.

You may see duality, but still react from it.
You may talk about love, but still fight shadows.
You may feel expanded — then crash back into old patterns.

You might feel like you’re going mad. You’re surrounded by people still living — and expecting you to live — entirely within duality, but you can’t unsee what you’ve seen. It hurts. You feel one way, then act another as you fall back into autopilot. It can feel like you’re battling yourself.

This is not failure. It’s part of the bridge.

3. “Spirituality”: The Bridge (4–5D)

This is where spirituality often becomes an identity.

You begin to explore things like:

Consciousness
Frequency
Healing
Non-duality
Light and shadow

This phase can feel exhilarating. For the first time, you might feel like you’ve found your people. You finally have language for what you’ve always sensed. You feel seen — perhaps for the first time. 

This phase is supposed to teach discernment.

You learn that not everything that feels “light” is true.
You learn that bypassing pain doesn’t heal it.
You learn that darkness isn’t evil — it’s unintegrated.

Many people get stuck here because the experience can be intoxicating – visions, downloads, connection, expansion.

You feel like you’ve broken free. You might even feel “ahead” of others — and then feel uncomfortable or guilty for feeling that way. You might meet charismatic people who feel aligned – yet something doesn’t quite feel right.

Yet life still triggers you. Relationships still hurt. Your nervous system still reacts. That can be confusing because you thought you were past this now. You can start to feel more lost than ever.

This is the humbling part.

Because spirituality is not the destination.

It’s a bridge, not a home.

4. Embodiment: Love in Human Form (5D)

This is where things get real.

Awakening moves out of the mind and into the body. 

You stop trying to ascend.
You stop trying to fix.
You stop trying to be “more spiritual”.

Instead, life asks you to show up here:
in conversations,
in conflict,
in your boundaries,
in your nervous system.

You begin to embody:

Presence
Compassion
Boundaries
Truth
Love without attachment

And this starts with giving those things to yourself.

From the outside, this can look very ordinary. You might speak less. You might step back from certain people or spaces. You might disappoint others by saying no. You might go totally off the radar. It can be a liberating but painful space – you thought you found your ‘home’ and now that doesn’t feel like ‘home’ anymore. Now what? You don’t think about it – it just happens. Something clicks and changes.

You’re no longer interested in proving anything.
You discern instead of reacting.
You let others walk their own path — even when it’s uncomfortable to watch.

This is where love becomes grounded — not performative, not saviour-like, not self-sacrificing.

This is love with clarity. And clarity is often quiet.

5. Just Am: Beyond Effort (5D+)

Eventually (and this can take time), even the spiritual identity softens. Something falls away – if you let it. Throughout, you have free will. But if you eventually let go of everything, you feel like there is nothing to reach, nothing to heal, nothing to become.

You just are.

You stop monitoring your “state”.
You stop questioning whether you’re doing it right.
You trust life to move through you.

You respond rather than react.
You allow rather than control.
You act when moved — and rest when not.

This isn’t passive.
It’s deeply alive.

From here:

You don’t force awakening in others.
You don’t need validation.
You don’t argue with reality.

You meet life as it is — including the messiness, the grief, the beauty and the joy.

This is where duality dissolves. Not because it disappears, but because it no longer owns you.

The Truth Few Say Out Loud

You don’t “graduate” levels.
You don’t leave humanity behind.
You don’t escape the world.

You aren’t any better or worse than anyone else – because you all just are.

You bring love into form.

Awakening isn’t floating above life. It’s walking through it — awake, grounded, discerning, open-hearted.

And sometimes the most enlightened thing you can do…

…is rest.
…is say no.
…is let go.
…is just be.